Following Archer’s transition flight test milestone in June, Stellantis increases its investment in the electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft company to $165 million. Since 2020, Archer has leveraged Stellantis’ deep manufacturing, supply chain, and design expertise to design, develop, and commercialise its eVTOL aircraft.
03 Jul 2024 | 1840 Views | By Autocar Pro News Desk
Stellantis and Archer Aviation, a leader in electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, have announced that Archer has received an additional $55 million (Rs 458 crore) investment from Stellantis under the companies’ strategic funding agreement following the achievement of its transition flight test milestone last month.
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Stellantis and Archer Aviation, a leader in electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, have announced that Archer has received an additional $55 million (Rs 458 crore) investment from Stellantis under the companies’ strategic funding agreement following the achievement of its transition flight test milestone last month.
This latest investment builds on Stellantis’ series of open market purchases of 8.3 million shares of Archer’s stock in March of this year that was previously announced. During 2023, Stellantis invested $110 million (Rs 916 crore) in Archer through a combination of open market stock purchases and investments under the companies’ strategic funding agreement.
Archer remains on track to complete construction of its high-volume manufacturing facility in Georgia later this year. This first phase of the build out is a 350,000 square foot facility on a 100-acre site designed to support production of up to 650 aircraft annually, which would make it one of the largest manufacturing facilities by volume in the aircraft industry. Archer’s goal with this facility remains to establish a factory that can support its planned commercial ramp up by leveraging the expertise of Stellantis as its contract manufacturer.
“Few things rival the excitement of seeing a dream take flight. I applaud the innovation, expertise and hard work of the engineering and manufacturing teams from Stellantis and Archer,” said Carlos Tavares, Stellantis CEO. “With this additional investment in Archer, we remain on course for a future where freedom of mobility extends beyond today’s roads.”
“The commitment by Stellantis to Archer has been unrivaled, from its foresight to provide the manufacturing expertise and capital needed to accelerate Archer’s business objectives, to the strategic vision and steadfast support from Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares,” said Archer CEO, Adam Goldstein. “Together, we’re working to redefine urban transportation, opening new worlds of opportunity for citizens across the globe by providing more efficient access to people, places, and events across the regions they live in.”
Stellantis: strategic partner since 2020
Stellantis has been a strategic partner to Archer since 2020 through various collaboration initiatives, and as an investor since 2021. During this time, Archer has leveraged Stellantis’ deep manufacturing, supply chain, and design expertise in connection with Archer’s efforts to design, develop, and commercialize its eVTOL aircraft.
Archer’s goal is to transform urban travel, replacing 60- to 90-minute commutes by car with estimated 10- to 20-minute electric air taxi flights that are safe, sustainable, low noise, and cost-competitive with ground transportation. Archer’s Midnight is a piloted, four-passenger aircraft designed to perform rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charge time between flights.